Hillary Baldwin Waugh (June 22, 1920 – December 8, 2008) was a pioneering American mystery novelist. In 1989, he was named a Grand Master by the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is a professional organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the E ...

Pseudonyms A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's ow ...

used by Waugh included Elissa Grandower, Harry Walker and H. Baldwin Taylor.

Career

Hillary Baldwin Waugh was born on June 22, 1920, in

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. He graduated in 1942 from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, majoring in art with a music minor. He was an editor of campus humor magazine '' The Yale Record''. During his senior year at Yale, Waugh enlisted in the United States Navy Air Corps and, after graduation, received his

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

's wings. He served in the

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone (), also known as just the Canal Zone, was a International zone#Concessions, concession of the United States located in the Isthmus of Panama that existed from 1903 to 1979. It consisted of the Panama Canal and an area gene ...

for two years, flying various types of

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

. While in military service, Waugh turned his hand to creative writing, completing and publishing his first

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

''Madam Will Not Dine Tonight'' in 1947. He quickly published two more novels, but they were not very well received. In 1949, as the result of reading a case book on true

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

, Waugh decided to explore a realistic crime novel. With the cooperation of his fiancée, who was a student at

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

, Waugh set his

police procedural The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agency, law enforcement agencies ...

'' Last Seen Wearing ...'' in a fictional women's college. Published in 1952, the book was a significant success and is now considered a pioneering effort exploring relentless police work and attention to detail. After ''Last Seen Wearing...'', Waugh went on to publish more than thirty-five additional detective novels, many aptly described as "

hardboiled Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence o ...

Personal life and death

Waugh married Diana Taylor in 1951 and the couple had three children. They divorced in 1981. Waugh's second marriage, to novelist Shannon O'Cork, also ended in divorce. Waugh died in

Torrington, Connecticut Torrington is the most populated municipality and largest city in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States, and the Northwest Hills Planning Region, Connecticut, Northwest Hills Planning Region. It is also the core city of Greater Torringto ...

, on December 8, 2008.

Publications

Series

Sheridan Wesley # ''Madam Will Not Dine Tonight'' (1947) # ''Hope to Die'' (1948) # ''The Odds Run Out'' (1949) Fred Fellows # ''Sleep Long, My Love'' (1959) filmed as '' Jigsaw'' (1962) # ''Road Block'' (1960) # ''That Night It Rained'' (1961) # ''Born Victim'' (1962) dramatised for anthology series ''

Detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

'' # ''The Late Mrs. D.'' (1962) # ''Death and Circumstance'' (1963) # ''Prisoner's Plea'' (1963) dramatised for anthology series ''Detective'' # ''The Missing Man'' (1964) # ''End of a Party'' (1965) # ''Pure Poison'' (1966) # ''The Con Game'' (1968) Homicide North # ''30 Manhattan East'' (1968) # ''The Young Prey'' (1969) # ''Finish Me Off'' (1970) Simon Kaye # ''The Glenna Powers Case'' (1980) # ''The Billy Cantrell Case'' (1981) # ''The Doria Rafe Case'' (1981) # ''The Nerissa Claire Case'' (1983) # ''The Veronica Dean Case'' (1984) # ''The Priscilla Copperwaite Case'' (1986)

Other novels

* '' Last Seen Wearing ...'' (1952) * ''A Rag and a Bone'' (1954) * ''The Case of the Missing Gardener'' (1954) * ''Rich Man, Dead Man'' (1956) * ''The Girl Who Cried Wolf'' (1958) * ''The Eighth Mrs. Bluebeard'' (1958) * ''Murder on the Terrace'' (1961) * ''The Duplicate'' (1964) * ''Girl on the Run'' (1965) * ''The Triumvirate'' (1966) * ''The Trouble with Tycoons'' (1967) * ''Run When I Say Go'' (1969) * ''The Shadow Guest'' (1971) * ''Parrish for the Defense'' (1974) * ''A Bride for Hampton House'' (1975) * ''Seaview Manor'' (1976) * ''The Summer at Raven's Roost'' (1976) * ''The Secret Room of Morgate House'' (1977) * ''Madman at My Door'' (1978) * ''Blackbourne Hall'' (1979) * ''Rivergate House'' (1980) * ''Murder on Safari'' (1987) * ''A Death in a Town'' (1988)

References

External links

Obituary
in the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

AP Obituary
in the

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is advertised as the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven and ...

Obituary
in

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Obituary
in

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waugh, Hillary 1920 births 2008 deaths 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American crime fiction writers Edgar Award winners Yale University alumni Writers from New Haven, Connecticut 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Connecticut United States Navy personnel of World War II